Greinke was Plan B
by battlekow on Jul 10, 2008 11:28 PM CDT
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PrintHad the Brewers not landed the biggest 290-pound fish in the trading pond, we're hearing they wouldn't have turned to Harden as Plan B. Their target was the Royals' Zack Greinke. That's a moot point now. But as the Brewers turn their attention to adding an impactful bullpen arm next, they wouldn't be crazy to make a run at Greinke in that role, too. His bullpen splits last year were definite closer material (.226 opponent avg., .282 OBP, .332 SLG). "For some reason, as a starter, he's been only a six-inning guy," one scout said. "It just seems like he doesn't have the mindset or the durability to finish games. When I look at him, I have no doubt he could be a real good closer. It would just depend on the fit for the club."My first reaction: why was Greinke not plan A? As has been discussed ad nauseam, Greinke would be under control through the 2010 season, two full years beyond Sabathia, and for roughly 20% of the price (comparing Greinke's $1.4M 2008 salary to Sabathia's $9M 2008 salary).
My second reaction: the bullpen?! Why would you want to move a 24-year-old with a 104/36 K/BB in 124 innings to the bullpen? Of course his stuff plays up when used in relief; every pitcher's stuff does.
He has four quality pitches, while relievers generally only need two.
But what about the 6-inning pitcher claim? His 124 innings have come in 19 starts, which is an average of just over 6.5 innings per start. He's thrown over 6 innings in 9 of his 19 starts, and never failed to go at least 5. In comparison, the Brewers' two horses, the law firm of Sheets & Sabathia, have averaged 6.8 and 6.75 IP/GS and gone >6 innings in 11 and 11 starts, respectively. Considering the age gap, those differences don't seem remarkable at all, and I'm sure Sheets and Sabathia would make wicked closers as well. I really hope the quoted scout doesn't work for the Brewers.
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Perhaps Greinke was more expensive...
For all of the reasons you outlined above, the Royals would have to be setting a massive asking price for Greinke. Given age and performance, his value would be ridiculous.
I was shocked to find that he didn’t make Dave Cameron’s top 50 players by terms of trade value:
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/category/trade-value/
Possibly we offered the same package for Grienke but the Royals thought that if they hung out long enough the Cubs would step in with an unbeatable package centred around Murton.
In a perfect world, I would love to have seen the Brewers go all out for a player who combines C.C’s awesomeitude with a little bit longer on their contract. It may (WOULD) have cost more, but Roy Halladay would have been perfect. Could Ricciardi have been dense enough to trade him???
Good to know someone else is active on the blog at all hours of the night
Even if it the late afternoon for you…
Anyway, yeah, the price for Greinke would have been higher, and anyway, “the Royals…remain decidedly uninterested in moving Grienke (sic).”
He's extremely quick and good.
Greinke should have been more expensive for the reasons BK said.
Again I would have been willing to go as high as LaPorta and Escobar for Greinke but probably not for CC (unless the Indians threw in some other player or cash).
by dixieflatline on Jul 11, 2008 8:24 AM CDT up reply actions
I wonder
Besides the extra years of control equaling a higher cost, I wonder if part of it is that the Brewers brass figured netting Sabathia would be a bigger way to bring in the casual fan.
Coffee is for closers
Considering they already had high attendance totals
I don’t think they would’ve been too worried about fans coming to the ballpark during a pennant race without Sabathia.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
I think a buzz has been brought to the Brewers with the Sabathia trade that wouldn't have been there with Greinke.
What does a buzz mean…not too much, but it’s nice to see it in Milwaukee for a change.
Plan C?
Adam McCalvy related an exchange after the CC acquisition with Doug Melvin that went roughly like this:
DM – What additional trade would you suggest?
McC – Your fanbase would suggest 2nd base. How about Brian Roberts?
DM – He isn’t available
I gotta believe that Melvin would have touched base with all sorts of teams about mostly starting pitchers and the odd position player. Somewhere I saw a rumor about the Giants 2nd baseman. When the response for Greinke and Roberts is “not interested,” it just means make it a high offer because he’s liked and there isn’t a pressing need to move him.
I'd say
we pull the trigger on Greinke as well. Lets load our pitching staff.
I’m convinced: to hell with the future – I just want the now. Hardy is expendable to get Greinke – he’ll come down to earth soon enough. Then move up Escobar (sure his offense sucks, but we’ll be awesome in the RA category)...
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